Choice
by BlackBird47
Summary: The night before his final battle with Bane, Bruce receives a midnight visit from Selina Kyle and an offer of alliance he's in no position to refuse...set during "Dark Knight Rises."


A/N- Just a little one-shot before I go see "The Dark Knight Rises"…what I wish would happen with Batman and Catwoman in the movie!

Choice

It was quiet in the Manor. Bruce imagined that back in Gotham, the sounds of the city were deafening. Sirens blaring. The angry mob of citizens breaking through windows of storefronts and looting what little was left inside. And Bane looking over what he had wrought with smug, self-satisfied pride.

Bruce's hands clenched into fists. Tomorrow he would fight. Tomorrow he would answer Bane's challenge to the police and come out of hiding to meet him head-on, this time prepared, and things would end very differently than they had last time. He had been training ceaselessly for his final stand, and the rigorous exercise had taken its toll on his stiff, ruined body. His lower back throbbed with a dull, constant ache, his arm would go numb and tingling without warning, he grew tired more easily than he used to. Even with the world's best armor protecting him, he was weaker now, weaker than he'd ever been. No way to be when he must fight a monster.

He leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window in his bedroom, looking out at the grounds of the Manor. It was so peaceful here. Sometimes Gotham felt a million miles away from this place. He found himself filled with an odd sense of longing for the days before Bane when he'd been boarded up in the Manor alone, forgotten, left alone for what remained of his troubled life.

But his self-imposed solitude had ended. He had been called back into the fray—or, more accurately, dragged back, Bruce thought with a small smile. By her.

He wondered if Selina Kyle ever thought of him. He thought of her, often, more than he'd ever thought of any woman. She had strangely been the one thought that comforted him when he was trapped and left for dead, imprisoned by Bane for what felt like an eternity.

Maybe the thought of her calmed him because when he was with her, he didn't feel so alone, so despairing. He didn't know, or understand, why he felt so connected to her. She was a criminal, an unrepentant one, and most of their interaction had included her laughing at him or gleefully attempting to steal everything he owned. But still, he found himself thinking of her, her face, her voice, the feeling of her beside him, with a sense of longing that was beginning to evolve into something that almost felt like need. But it didn't matter now. Those feelings were madness, only a side effect of his profound loneliness, and clearly not returned— he hadn't seen her since he'd come back to Gotham.

He had heard from Commission Gordon that she had returned to Bane's employ. Always throwing in her lot with the most likely victor. Just good sense, Bruce thought to himself, if not the most noble philosophy.

He knew he should sleep, knew tomorrow was coming quickly, and with it a battle he was favored to lose. But he couldn't even entertain the thought of sleep. He rarely slept for any extended amount of time anymore, and he knew that was probably not helping his rehabilitation. But in order to sleep, he would have to let down his guard, leave himself unprotected for those few stolen hours. And he couldn't do it. Another night in his big empty bed held no appeal for him, no matter how exhausted he became.

_Someone actually notices if I come home at night. _He remembered Harvey Dent's words, and felt a stab of longing for the life normal people had, coming home to a wife or girlfriend or family who'd anxiously been awaiting his return. He'd never even gotten close to having that, not with anyone, never really shared his life or his bed, never had someone waiting up for him. The life he had chosen was one to be spent alone, and for the first time, he wanted something different. He wasn't entirely sure what kind of life he did want, but he did know that, right now, right at this moment, he didn't want to be alone.

He sighed, turning away from the window and stopping short. The door to his bedroom was wide open, when he knew he had left it shut. He stepped silently across the ornately carpeted floor, scanning the room but seeing nothing else amiss. He reached the door, looking out to the silent hallway. The security system was still armed and ready. No doors or windows to the outside had been breached. But there was clearly someone here. He could practically feel their presence. Only one person he knew was this good. Only one person had ever successfully beaten the Manor's near government-level security.

"Selina?" He said quietly, trying to ignore an inconvenient shiver of anticipation.

"The one and only." He spun around at the sound of her voice, laughing out loud with surprise when he found her in his bed, sitting back against his pillow in her full black cat-suited regalia, thumbing through the _Financial Times_ left on his bedside table. "You know, all the money in the world isn't going to help you against Bane. I'd recommend reading _The Art of War_ instead."

"I've read it." Bruce crossed his arms over his chest, still smiling.

She snapped the newspaper shut, casting it aside and crossing one heavy black boot over the other on his fancy 1500-thread count sheets. "Well, clearly you skipped the part about the necessity of alliances. What's your plan here, Bruce? You and your fancy toys take on Bane and his army single-handed?"

"I'm sure if you're here, it means I'm down a few fancy toys."

Selina shrugged, her red lips curving into a smile as she playfully unzipped her catsuit a few inches. "You can search me if you want."

He sighed, trying not to look down at her very impressive cleavage. "Why are you here?"

"I've been asking myself that all night." She swung her legs around to the side of the bed, getting to her feet and walking towards him. "I couldn't sleep. Went for a ride to clear my head. And somehow…I found myself here. In your bed."

Bruce looked down, swallowing hard as she rested her hands on his chest. "Imagine that." He gently lowered her hands back to her side, Selina's eyes locked on his with that unnerving, unblinking gaze. "Did Bane send you?"

"Oh, honey. You're a little behind the times." She smirked. "I don't work for him anymore. I don't work for anyone. I found that I'm not well-suited to the restraints of employment." Her hands slid up higher to the collar of his shirt. "What about you, Bruce? How do you feel about…restraints?"

"Stop." He stepped away from her, not trusting himself to be that close to her. Not when she was saying things like that, her tongue sliding over her teeth as she looked up at him…

Selina laughed merrily, putting her hands up in mock surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I just didn't take you for the vanilla type. Most rich boys liked to be tied up and told what to do."

"You haven't answered my question." Bruce said gruffly, trying to regain some dignity. "Why are you here?"

She sighed, removing her mask, holding it at her side. "You really want to know?"

"Yes. The truth, for once."

"The truth." She said the word almost contemplatively, as if trying it out in her mouth. After a moment, she looked back up to him, leaning back against the wall. "I wanted to come to you sooner. When I heard you were alive, I…" Her voice died in her throat for a moment before she recovered, staring out the window. "Gotham needs you back. I figured that I pulled you out of retirement once. Maybe I could do it again."

Bruce snorted with disbelief. "Why do you care what happens to Gotham? It will be much easier to rip everyone off after Bane takes over."

"I think about you all the time."

He looked up with surprise to find Selina staring at the floor. She pressed her red lips together until Bruce asked the obvious question. "So what took you so long? Why wait until tonight?"

"Because you're Bruce Wayne. The Prince of Gotham." She shook her head, looking back to him, her dark eyes glassy. "I've spent my whole life working to bring down people like you. Rich, entitled pricks who hide in their gilded towers while the rest of us struggle for scraps."

"I'm not—"

"I know you're not like that. I know that now. You want to help people who can't help themselves. Just like I do, in my own way. And those people need us now more than they ever have."

"Then stand up with me tomorrow and fight. Fight for them." Bruce stepped towards her, adrenaline coursing through him at her words.

"He'll kill you this time. He's too strong. You can't stop him." Selina shook her head, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I can. I will." He reached her, his massive hands on her lithe arms. "But only if you help me."

"Bruce—"

"I need you."

They looked at each other for a long, silent moment, before he leaned towards her and her eyes slid closed as his lips brushed hers. She broke away from him, letting out a sigh of annoyance. "Oh, come on."

"What?" He looked down at her, confused.

"I'm not one of your nice little girlfriends. You want me to help you?" She gripped his collar again, shaking him slightly. "You better fucking _convince_ me."

He felt a rush of arousal shudder through him at her words, Bruce Wayne disappearing and Batman taking over as he pushed her up against the wall, taking her face in his hands, crushing his mouth against hers, desire overtaking him like it never had before, his attraction to her evolving into a dangerous, hungry lust that caught him off guard with its ferocity. But she seemed to like it, her lips eagerly parting under his as she unbuttoned his shirt, sliding it off his shoulders as they stumbled back towards his bed, practically devouring each other, her hands moving over the bare skin of his back, over his muscled shoulders, caressing countless scars and bruises before he freed her of her clothes, Selina kicking off her leather boots before slithering out of her suit like a snake shedding its skin. They broke apart for a moment, her hands still on his shoulders, Bruce looking down at her naked body, shaking his head, looking like an awed teenager.

"You're beautiful," he finally managed stupidly.

"Oh, shut up, you're already getting laid." She tried to laugh off his compliment, but her cheeks were bright red as she looked away from him and hurriedly undid his pants, pulling him back onto his enormous bed, wrapping her legs around his waist, her dark red nails digging into his shoulders when he thrust inside her, hard and deep enough that she groaned in approval. When he started to move against her, falling into a rhythm, both breathing hard, she looked up at him and they both knew the truth they'd been trying to run from since the moment they met. They would never really escape each other. They had spent their entire lives resigned to fighting their battles alone, but in this one moment, for this one night, they had each other.

"Is this you…finally choosing a side?" He breathed out, smiling down at her.

She smiled back, her hands sliding into his hair as she kissed him deeply, muttering her answer against his mouth when they parted. "I never had a choice. Not in this."

He kissed her then, and she pushed him back against the bed, straddling him, her dark hair falling around his face as she leaned over him, circling her hips against him, harder and faster, the sensation starting to work through them both like a drug, hearts pounding, needing more, needing to be closer, willing it to never end.

But it did end. Their moment of release felt like a kind of joint exorcism, shared demons of loss and pain and loneliness forgotten for a moment as his hands tightened on her hips, Selina crying out, rolling onto her back and pulling him on top of her, neither speaking as they clutched each other so tightly their fingers left red marks on each other's skin, both wanting to hide here for just a little longer, unable to face the war outside just yet, desperate to hold on to this rare and surely fleeting moment of true connection to another person.

Neither spoke for a long time, both feeling a little dazed by what had just happened. They shifted around in the sheets until he was holding her, both on their sides, her back pressed up against his chest as they looked out the frameless floor length window at the deceptively peaceful night outside.

"Bruce?"

He kissed her bare shoulder, his eyelids heavy, finally feeling close to sleep. "Yes?"

"I need you too, you know."

He smiled as she looked back to him, brushing her lips against his once more. They fell asleep in each other's arms, and when the next morning dawned, weak sunlight spilled across the room, stirring Bruce out of a deep sleep.

For a moment, he thought she was gone, and he sat up, feeling a rush of panic in his throat. But she was sitting on the edge of his bed, sliding on her boots, already suiting up for battle.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, feeling around for his watch on the bedside table.

"Just after five," she said, getting to her feet and crossing the room with her graceful, slinking strides to retrieve her mask. "Game time. Bane's not really the type to wait around before he starts blowing things up."

"Did you just say 'game time?'" Bruce snickered, walking past her in his boxer-briefs to the closet and pressing the button to open the display housing the Batsuit.

"Shut up." She looked over her shoulder, testing out the fingers of her gloves as she watched him get dressed. "So now I know what Batman wears under the suit. I feel so special."

"Well, I figured you showed me yours…"

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, what, you're funny now?"

"If you say so."

Moments later, he walked out of the closet, his Batsuit perfectly in place. Selina got to her feet, and they walked out of his bedroom together, nearly running straight into Alfred.

"G-Good morning, sir. Miss Kyle." Alfred sputtered, looking between them, bewildered.

"Morning, Alfred." Bruce nodded as if Gotham's most wanted thief spending the night in his bedroom was the most normal thing in the world. "Is everything ready?"

"Of course, sir. Enough fuel to take you…and any fellow passenger…" Alfred nodded to Selina, "…to China and back if you so choose."

"Just Gotham today." Bruce nodded towards his butler.

"We'll try to be home for dinner." Selina patted Alfred on the shoulder, leading the way towards the Bat Cave, walking far enough ahead that Bruce and Alfred could have a moment alone.

"She's…helping me." Bruce said under his breath.

"I'm glad to hear it, sir." Alfred suppressed a smile. "As long as she also helps you come home alive."

"Well, even if she doesn't, I'm no worse off than I was without her." Bruce shrugged, seeming fairly relaxed for a man who could be walking to his death.

"You almost seem…chipper, sir."

"No. Just ready."

"Good luck, Master Wayne."

Bruce nodded. "I'll see you soon, Alfred."

Alfred watched him walk away, offering up a silent prayer that he was right.

Selina ran her hand along the hood of the Tumbler lovingly. "So, I'm driving, right?"

"Not today." Bruce had on the mask now, and was using the gruff voice he put on for Batman. "I heard you nearly crashed it while I was gone. Several times. Gordon told me you made the front page after you drove it off the roof of Wayne Industries."

"I was making a political statement." She shrugged. "Besides, I _didn't_ crash it."

"What was your political statement, exactly?"

"While the bat's away…" she grinned.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure you should go into politics."

"I wasn't planning on it." She looked up at him, her smile faltering slightly. "In a few hours, this will all be over. One way or another."

"If you don't want to come with me…"

"I didn't say that." Selina pressed her red lips together. "I just never…never thought I'd be fighting beside anyone. Especially you."

"I'm glad you changed your mind."

"Me too."

He cleared his throat, dropping the false voice. "And about last night…"

She reached up, stopping his words with her hand over his mouth. "You don't have to say anything. If that was our last night on earth…"

He gently moved her hand away from his mouth, a small smile on his lips as he finished the sentiment for her. "There are worse ways to go."

"Exactly."

Batman leaned forward, kissing her, the breastplate of the Batsuit pressed up against her neoprene catsuit, their eyes closed behind their masks as they embraced. After a moment, her hands slid up over his shoulders as Selina pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, suddenly struck with the melancholy thought that this was most likely their kiss goodbye. She was a criminal. That was how she survived—in the shadows, forever hiding. If she publicly sided with Batman, her face would be on the front page of every newspaper in town. She would have to disappear after today or be locked up forever for the many, many crimes still assigned to her name. She would disappear underground, maybe change her identity, find work somewhere else. Most likely, she could never return to Gotham. Never see him again.

But she tried to push all of those thoughts away. Right now, he was kissing her like he wanted nothing else in the world. Right now, they were going into battle together.

And right now, for once in her life, she didn't feel alone.

A/N- That's all folks! Reviews make my day.


End file.
